Racist tweets against Ozil crossed the line, says father

By Stefan Coerts

The attacking midfielder was subjected to racial slurs on the social networking site during the match versus Denmark, and opted to file a formal complaint with the authorities

Mesut Ozil's father has stressed the racist abuse that the Germany international was subjected to on Twitter crossed the line, and added that they have taken legal action in an attempt to deter others.

The Real Madrid star was racially abused by a Twitter user during Germany's 2-1 Group B win over Denmark, and Mustafa Ozil has had more than enough of the smear campaign against his son and other players with foreign roots.

"Mesut was born in Germany, and has done a lot for Germany and the integration of others. He's a great kid, and it hurts us to see these things happen. It doesn't affect his game, though," Ozil's father stated to TZ.

"This crossed the line and we've filed a complaint to prevent this from happening again. This time it's aimed at Mesut, but the next time they could be after Jerome Boateng, Lukas Podolski, Sami Khedira or Ilkay Gundogan. This is unacceptable.

"It's not the first time that something like this happens, but we want to make a clear statement now. We no longer want to accept this."

Twitter suspended the offending user after numerous complaints were filed.